Distractions
by Togepretty
Summary: Ash is learning that with growing up come changes. Some are good, some are bad, and some cannot be overcome without suffering heartache. What comes out of the Ash/Misty/May love triangle, and will the result leave them as friends? Please R


Distractions 

  


Chapter 1

  
  


"That was some good food." 

"Anything edible is good food to you." 

"That's not true, I can't stand your cooking." 

"Amen to that." 

"Oh yeah? Because you're such a great cook?" 

"I never said I was, I was just agreeing with May. Besides, I'm not the son of a chef." 

"No, your the son of a-OOOOWWWW!" Ash glared at Misty who was now placing her mallet back into her pack. 

"Children, please." May shook her head at her companions as the doors to the Pokemon Center slid open. 

The group of three walked into the building. Nurse Joy's attention immediately flew to the weary teen travelers. Misty and May lagged behind, while Ash took the leader position and headed toward the counter. 

"Hello there. Staying the night?" the friendly nurse asked the young trainer while observing the groggy Pikachu hanging over his shoulder, struggling to keep it's eyes open. 

"Yup," Ash replied simply with a smile. 

"All right then. Two rooms would be-"

"No, that's okay. One room will do," Ash corrected, causing Nurse Joy a bit of shock. She looked back at his two friends. Both of whom were female, and both of whom looked to be at least 15 years old. The young man standing in front of her seemed a little younger, but not by much. In any case, she didn't feel right about this situation. 

"Um, are you sure?" she asked uneasily. 

"Ash? Is something wrong?" Misty questioned from the entrance. 

"Everything's fine," Ash assured, quickly returning his attention to the nurse. "Yes, I'm positive. We'll just need one room. So long as there's at least 4 beds, we'll all be okay." Ash gave her his trademark soothing smile. The nurse still was uncomfortable with the situation, but Ash's smile, and her own delusion of all of them being related in some way, persuaded her to hand over a key to the room. 

"Thank you." Ash placed the regular down-payment for lodging on the counter. "Let's go girls!" He called to them as they both followed behind with a Torchic and Togetic in tow. 

"What was that about?" Misty asked Ash as the trio roamed the halls. Ash didn't answer right away. His attention was on matching the room number on the key to the corresponding door. Misty looked on patiently. 

It was only until they were in front of the correct room that Ash decided to respond. "I think she thought you two might get fresh with me." He grinned as Misty rolled her eyes, unamused. 

May snatched the key away from Ash and opened the door. She entered the room first, and though it was the standard group room, she couldn't help but take pleasure at the site of the warm soft bunk-beds. 

"Dibs on the top bed!" she called out, quickly climbing the ladder and placing her pack on it, as if marking her territory. The amusing thing was that she was the only one who ever cared what bed she got. Misty and Ash had never put up an argument, yet May continued to stake claim at every Pokemon Center, almost as is it were a ritual. 

Ash and Misty just laughed off May's antics as they also joined her inside the room. 

"You know what, guys? I've noticed that we've been getting a lot of weird looks lately. Especially when we stay at a Pokemon Center," May observed, dangling her legs off the bed. 

Misty considered her words as she took a seat on the small couch near the door. "Yeah, I guess. But you've got to admit that it must look a bit strange to people. You know, two girls staying with a guy in the same room at our age." 

"Why do people immediately assume something sexual is going on? Did it ever occur to anyone that we're all just friends." It was more of a statement than a question, for this thought bothered Ash more than either of the girls knew. 

"What are you complaining about? You're the lucky one in all of this." He was immediately perplexed at the redhead's remark. "They must think of you as a real stud, traveling around with two beautiful girls." 

Ash suddenly began to dart his head around as if searching for something. "Two beautiful girls?! Where?! Where?!" 

Misty looked to May in annoyance. "Do you want to hit him, or should I?" 

"Ah, I can't reach, and I really don't feel like getting up yet." She stretched out her arm to show the distance between her and Ash, who stood in the center of the room. 

Misty sighed in defeat, relaxing back onto the couch. "You should consider yourself really lucky right now." 

And indeed Ash did as he stood grinning at the two lazy girls. However, suddenly-

"Ooooowwww!" Ash 's hair was standing up at weird angles, and a few stray sparks flew from his head. From Ash's shoulder Pikachu pointed up his finger, as if holding a gun, and blew at the tip in a marksman-like fashion. 

"Thanks, Pikachu!" Misty smiled successfully. 

"Pi-Pikachu!" Pikachu gave a Pika-thumbs up, always looking to impress the ladies. 

"Traitor," Ash coughed out, along with some smoke. 

Pikachu ignored it's trainer's disapproval, hopping from his shoulder to the second top bunk, and taking it's' place under the warm covers. Togetic and Torchic left their respective trainers and followed suit, also taking a spot on the top bunk with Pikachu. 

Misty stretched out a bit, trying to relieve her muscles from the days long walk. But she knew what she really needed to relax was- "I'm going to take my bath," she announced, grabbing her pajamas and other toiletries and heading towards the bathroom. 

"Oh, I'm next!" May declared, as Ash shrugged it off. Ash was always last, even though he took the least amount of time. It didn't really matter to him. But what did matter to him was the fact that they would talk about him while he was gone. He had overheard them once when he had forgotten to take his toothbrush with him. What was so interesting about him? And what could they possibly tell each other that the other one didn't already know? And most importantly, were these discussions favorable for him? He'd hate to think that they had a secret We Loathe Ash Club, and they would use his bath time to plot ways to "get" him. Yeah, Ash had a vivid imagination. 

-----------------

After all the baths were taken, they were all preparing for bed. Ash had decided on the bed beneath the Pokemon, and Misty took the one under May. After Ash had gotten out of the bath, the girls had seemed extra giggly to him(perhaps another WLAC meeting had taken place?). In any case, before Ash knew it, he was being hit on the back of the head with a pillow. Ash, being Ash, would not stand for such a an attack without at least trying to retaliate. His attacker, and new target, Misty, AKA the President of the WLAC was about to get a dose of her own medicine. However, he barely had a chance to lift up his pillow before he was bombarded from all directions. 

He was outnumbered as May and the Pokemon turned on him. He managed to get in a few good hits at May, but Misty had maneuvered herself around him, and onto his bed, taking him from behind in a tickle attack. But all was not lost. He leaned down on Misty and pinned her to the bed. The multiple pillows being swung at him by May and the Pokemon were barely having an effect. Misty and Ash grinned widely, as he lifted up his pillow to pummel the lead conspirator, but before he knew it, he was hit once again. Only this time, it was more fatal. May had jumped on him, causing Ash to lose all balance and land on Misty, face to face. He could feel her lips just barely brushing his, but however small, there was definite contact. He froze. Misty's eyes were wide, and her heart was racing. Things could change so drastically in the heat of battle. Ash wanted to get off her, he wanted to erase the incident that had just occurred, but something was holding him back. That's when he realized May was still on top of him. 

May, perceiving something was wrong, lifted herself off of Ash's back, to view the situation. Suffice it to say, after a closer examination she did not expect, or like what she saw. Ash slowly separated himself from the stunned Misty. Silence occupied the room. Even the Pokemon, who weren't exactly sure of what happened, felt the need to be quiet. 

May, being the most excitable of the group, was the first to speak. "I'm sooooooo sorry, you guys! I swear, I was just playing around. I didn't think before I acted. I'm really, really sorry!" 

Ash and Misty were still fixed on each other. Their eyes were unmoving. May was slowly getting peeved about this staring contest. She greatly wished that she could find out what they were thinking. 

The few seconds that passed felt like a few days to Ash and Misty. But finally Misty spoke. "It's all right, May. It was just a mistake,...an accident," she said softly while lifting herself off the bed. "Nobody meant...anything that happened, so we should just...go to bed!" Misty finished awkwardly. She tried to mask her nerves by hopping into her bed as if everything was back to normal. 

May thought about what she said. ' Nobody meant anything that happened...That's right, Ash and Misty didn't...on purpose. It was my fault.' Somehow, this thought made her feel better and worse at the same time. 

"We should get to sleep. It's getting late, and we have to go meet that Dorien guy that Prof. Oak told us about tomorrow. It's a long walk to his house, we are going to have to leave early," said Ash, also attempting to act normal. 

"Yeah, I still say we should take the bus," May mumbled to herself, expecting to be ignored as usual. Her expectations were met as the Pokemon, Ash, and eventually her, were all tucked in, and the lights were turned off for the night. 

What wasn't usual was the lack of goodnights, but nobody seemed to notice. 

-----------------

Ash turned to his side to look at the clock by the bed. It was 1:32 am and he was still not asleep. Why couldn't he just stop thinking about it? It wasn't a big deal. He's been in worse situations than this. He's faced down a Mewtwo. He's been on the hit list of raging Legendaries. He's been through countless attempts by Team Rocket to steal his Pokemon. And not one of those things has ever kept him up at night, and here he was stressing over a kiss. And it wasn't even a kiss, not a proper one anyway. He barely felt anything, it happened so fast. 'For once Misty was right. It didn't mean anything. I just can't believe that my first kissed will forever be described as "my lips fell on hers".' 

What he couldn't believe even more was that he even had a first kiss. He was fifteen, and by other people's standards he was passed due. But still, he just couldn't get used to the idea. He kissed someone...and it was Misty. 'Freaky.' 

He turned once again to his side, and to his awe he was greeted by Misty who also seemed to be having trouble sleeping. They both immediately started blushing as they stared at each other lying awake in bed. She was looking at him, why? And then, it happened. Misty smiled. She smiled at him. She was acting so shy and yet...playful. Was she flirting with him? 

He couldn't help but smile back. If Ash had to describe her at this moment, the word cute would immediately spring to mind. She looked away for a few seconds, but she would always come back to his eyes. A coy expression leaping from her smile. Was he dreaming, because this person across from him didn't seem like Misty. This continued for a good five minutes, back and forth. That's when he saw her mouth the words good night, before turning over and leaving him "alone". 

Ash had known Misty for five years, and not once had he ever felt so close to her before. He liked it. He liked it a lot. Who knew what a few secretly shared smiles and eye contact could convey. 

Misty's hearts was racing again. 'I can't believe I just did that. What was I thinking? Maybe he wont remember it in the morning.' But deep down, Misty kind of hoped he did. 

May watched as Ash smiled in Misty's direction. She hugged her pillow tighter and closed her eyes. 

-----------------

The next morning's awkward silences seemed to dictate that there should be an unspoken mutual agreement. One that would prefer them all to act as if the incident never occurred. And so that's what they did. It was just a small mishap, after all. Nobody meant for it to happen, and it didn't mean anything so why should they dwell on it. They were all just good friends that got a little carried away in the excitement of the moment. However, May was especially kicking herself for causing a lot of what went on. And she was extremely relieved that nothing actually came of "the accident", as it will now be referred to. 

Following a small talk/head nods/uncomfortable blushes, they'd reached an understanding that would require them two rooms when staying at Pokemon Centers. And with that ended the practically non existent discussion of the previous nights events. 

So, after a quick breakfast at the Pokemon Center, the gang were headed towards the bus stop to catch the next bus to Dorien's house. 

The walk there was a quick one, so within ten minutes the bus stop was already in sight. They hardly ever took public transportation, but despite putting the events of last night behind them, Ash doubted he could handle over an hours walk alone with the two girls. So, suddenly taking the bus(which is something May suggested often) sounded like a really good idea. 

From the looks of it, the bus hadn't arrived yet, and the girls had just spotted something a lot more interested than waiting around for the transportation. They all stopped to view a nearby window, leaving Ash to continue walking without notice of their absence. 

Ash was just a few feet away from the bus stop before he realized that he was walking by himself. He turned around to see his two female companions and the Pokemon stopped in front of a boutique of some sort. A feeling of foreboding immediately seeped through him as he watched the two girls. Their faces were aglow, their eyes were sparkly, and their hands were clasped in glee-

"How cute!!!" they squealed in unison as they viewed the various shoes, dresses, and other fashionable items of clothing that hung on display in the store window. 

"Last one in is a rotten Exeggutor!" May chimed while heading towards the door. However, neither got far for suddenly they felt a hand on their wrists, causing them both to stumble back a bit. They rotated their heads so they could view the meddler who dare hold them back from such an important event. 

"What's the deal?!" May asked perturbed. 

"Yeah, Ash, what's your problem?!" The water Pokemon trainer did not look happy. 

Ash let out a frustrated sigh. "We are not going inside," he stated, as if giving an order. Both girl's faces were now radiating anger. "Look, the bus is going to be here any minute, and if we miss it who knows when the next one will come along." 

Ash's reasoning was going nowhere with either Misty or May. Shopping took priority over most everything else. Especially over getting to meet some "Pokemon expert" that they'd never heard of before. "The bus probably comes every 15 minutes," Misty explained in annoyance. 

"Yeah, and we're fast shoppers, so we're probably just going to be in there for a bit. If it bothers you, you can wait outside," said the brunette. 

Ash's eyes looked ready to explode from their sockets at May's remark. "Fast shoppers?! A bit?! I'm lucky if you guys take an hour per store. If you think I'm going to waste away the day when I should be-

The sound of a large vehicle pulling over distracted the group from their argument. The bus had arrived. Before either of the young ladies had a chance to react, they were being taken to the bus, courtesy of Ash. 

The bus riders were surprised to see such slim teenager carrying a red head(who's blush matched her hair) over one shoulder, and dragging the other young lady by her shirt, as the Pokemon followed behind. They all boarded the bus, the doors closing behind them. Ash gladly released both girls, and dropped some money into the slot for their fares(although, he wasn't too glad about that last part ^^;;;). Neither rain, nor snow, nor shopping crazed teenage girls would stop Ash from meeting a great Pokemon prodigy. Now all he had to do was wait till they got there. 

Misty and May were thoroughly upset at being denied what would have most likely been a great shopping experience(there was a sale too!). But as they all sat in silence on the bus, they quickly began to realize they were being a bit selfish, although neither of them offered an apology. Misty figured letting Ash get away with the humiliation he caused her of having to be carried into the bus was consolation enough. And May was too distracted by the roguishly handsome guy smiling at her to even remember her name at the moment. 

Misty, who was sitting between Ash and May, felt a sharp jab in her right arm. She angrily turned toward the offender only to be greeted with a nervous and blushy-faced May. May motioned for her to come closer so she could whisper something into her ear. 

"This blond guy has been staring at me ever since we got on the bus," she stated shyly. "Should I go over and introduce myself?" 

Misty immediately got excited over her friends opportunity. "Where is he? Is he cute?" she questioned looking around the bus to spot the object of attraction. 

The young man by Misty's side could only roll his eyes at his friend's girlish giggles. He sat pondering when he had become the mature one of the group. While he couldn't quite pinpoint the exact moment of transition, he was still rather proud of his discovery. A haughty grin appeared on his face as he cuddled the cute electric rodent seated in his lap. 

Misty's eyes darted around the bus while May described her admirer. She finally managed to detect the dirty-blond Adonis her friend was describing. 

"Don't look at him," May reprimanded, afraid that he'd realize she was talking about him(as if that wasn't obvious already). 

"Well, how am I supposed to see him if I don't look?" she explained. 

"Look at him from the corner of your eye, or some..." Misty was grinning slyly. "What?" May was confused, and a little scared by Misty's expression. 

"No need, he's coming over," she grinned. 

"What?!" May's face turned ten shades of red as soon as she heard a deep throated hello coming from her right. 

Ash was finally drawn away from his self-promoting thoughts by the arrival of, in Ash's opinion, the jerky-looking guy who appeared way too old for May. He watched him talk her up with some lame lines, and shameful flirting. Now he was just waiting on May to tell him off. Of course, if it was up to Ash he would have just punched him(preferably somewhere that would have left a noticeable bruise). However, the moment Ash was waiting for never came. He stared on in disbelief as she got up from her seat. 

"Um, I'll just be over here...uh-heh heh," May stuttered. Her face was all flustered while she pointed toward the two seat space near the back of the bus. 

Ash and Misty were left to watch over Torchic as May joined "Jason". 

Misty smiled happily, glad that things were working out for May. Hopefully this would lead to plenty of juicy gossip after the bus ride was over. Now that her girlfriend was gone, she began to wonder how long the ride was going to last. She looked over at Ash to ask him how many more stops till they got to Dorien's place, and she was surprised to see him glaring at May and Jason. She looked from Ash to the couple, and back again. His face continued to get more and more upset as the seconds passed. 'What's his problem?' She couldn't figure out why Ash was so irritated. But then it came to her. 

"Look at them. It's revolting. You'd think she'd know better." Ash commented, never once taking his eyes away from May and Jason's direction. 

"Jealousy doesn't become you." 

Ash was immediately startled by the cold response he received from Misty. He finally looked to her, and he was once again startled to see that she was aggravated as well as seemingly ignoring him. She would not look him directly in the eyes. What did he do now? 

"I'm not je-jealous. I'm just shocked that May could be falling for that garbage he's feeding her. He's obviously a womanizer." Ash couldn't understand how his friends didn't realize yet that this guy was a sleaze. He could tell just by looking at him. His body language, and expression emanated loser. 

"Ash, just because you never give a compliment unless you want a favor, doesn't mean everyone is like that. You're just mad that May's attention is on somebody else." 

Ash's mouth was practically hanging open. 'Is she insane?!' "What on earth are-"

Ash was interrupted by Misty who noticed the familiar street sign as they pulled up to the bus stop. "Slyther street...Isn't this where we get off?" 

Ash checked the paper where he had written the address down to make sure. "Yeah..." He wasn't done with the conversation yet, though. "But, Misty, You can't honestly think-"

Unfortunately for Ash, Misty *was* done with the conversation. Collecting her belongings(including Togetic), and pretending she couldn't hear him, she called out to May. "Hey, May, this is our stop. Wrap it up, huh." she said, giving a wink. 

May simply nodded a bit in response, while turning to Jason. "Um, I guess I've got to go," she said reluctantly. 

"I guess so." He acknowledged sadly. "I know! Why don't you write down where you're headed. Maybe I could look you up at the Pokemon Center," he offered smoothly, giving a dashing smile. 

May was hooked. "Okay!" she said happily, turning away from him to search through her backpack for a pen and some paper.. 

Ash and Misty walked off the bus as two tall, attractive girls headed onto it. One of them nearly crashed into Ash, but he didn't seem to mind too much. Misty's bad mood multiplied at Ash's goofy expression, which resulted from the girl stopping to apologize to him. 

"You recover quickly," Misty remarked. 

"What did you say?" he questioned, a bit distractedly. 

"Nothing," she replied innocently, but still clearly ticked off. 

Ash was once again beyond confused. 

Meanwhile, inside the bus, May had finally found a scrap of paper and something to write with(an old lipstick ^^;;;).

"Tor-Torchic," the tiny flame-bird squeaked out as it circled it's trainer's feet. 

"Just a second, Torchic, I-" When May looked around she was dismayed to see her bus-buddy gone from her side. But just a quick look was all that was needed to see him chatting up the two girls that Ash and Misty had passed a minute ago. May suddenly felt very foolish and very sad. She quietly left her seat and exited the bus. She went completely unnoticed by Jason, who, at the site of these older, more "mature" girls, had probably forgotten she had even existed. 

She didn't say anything, but Torchic could tell that she was very upset. It could see her eyes glistening slightly, even though her face was blank. She didn't want to cry. She refused to cry over someone as insignificant as him. If she let this get to her, then he would have won, she told herself. 

Misty was all smiles when May got off. "So, how did it go?" she asked teasingly, hoping to get another blush out of her. 

May was silent for a while. Her back was facing her friends, who were now starting to get worried. She was trying desperately to contain herself. 'I barely knew this guy. Get over yourself, May. It's not the end of the world...' She sensed that she'd better say something before Ash and Misty started to ask questions. She spun herself around, and put on a cheerful smile, although a tiny tear still managed to slip out, streaking her cheek. "We should get going! We don't want to be late, right?" 

Ash, and finally Misty, had an idea as to what had happened with Jason. May's attempt to cover up her emotions was a bad one. They all gave her sympathetic expressions, but she pretended like she didn't notice and started to walk. It was obvious that she wasn't ready to talk about it yet, so they all made their way toward their destination, without a word passing between them. 

This was the first time Ash wished he had been wrong. His heart went out to his friend. 

  


A/N: My first real fic with May as a main character. As you could probably guess by now this will be a Ash, Misty, May love-triangle story. Hopefully I can make it believable. Even though I'm a Pokeshipper, there will definitely be Advanceshipping from both sides in this. The basis of this story will be Ash having to make some choices now that he's growing up and relationships are getting more complicated. He will also have to decide between his life long goal, and an opportunity that has come his way. Will he have to make a sacrifice, or will everything work out? Stay tuned! ^_^ Oh, and please review. ^^ 


End file.
